EP2760654B1 - Method for pour-and-set foaming hollow chamber profiles - Google Patents

Description

The invention relates to a method for introducing an insulating foam into at least one hollow chamber, delimited by walls, of a sash or window frame profile designed as a hollow chamber profile for the production of windows and / or doors.

Technical area

Hollow chamber profiles for the production of windows and / or doors, in particular made of thermoplastic material, already have relatively good thermal insulation with a corresponding construction depth. In the course of increased demands on the thermal insulation, the usual subdivision of the hollow chambers by additional partition walls is no longer sufficient. It has therefore already been proposed to fill hollow chambers of plastic profiles with heat-insulating foams in order to further reduce the convective heat transfer.

State of the art

In the state of the art, the following case groups can be subdivided: The foaming of finished sash or blind frames, i.e. the foaming of a circumferential hollow chamber after the profiles have been welded to form a frame DE 20 2009 011 138 U1 , DE 10 2007 062 903 A1 , EP 2 072 743 A2 , GB 2 320 048 A1 , AT 508 730 A1 ), the introduction of prefabricated foamed insulation elements after the profiles are cut to length and before they are welded ( DE 20 2006 004 515 U1 ), the introduction of a foam after the extrusion and before the cutting of the profiles (profile bars) ( WO 02/090703 A2 ) and finally the foaming of the endless profiles during the extrusion ( EP 1 237 697 B1 , DE 1 959 464 A1 , WO 2011/062632 A1 ).

The first method, the foaming of finished frames or casement frames, represents a considerable interruption of the usual process sequence in the manufacture of windows and doors. In addition, the uniform and complete filling of one or more hollow chambers of a finished frame is extremely problematic, especially since the frames produced in a production line usually each have different sizes.

The second method, in which prefabricated insulation elements are inserted into the profile pieces that have already been cut to length immediately before the profiles are welded, is, for example, from DE 20 2006 004 515 U1 known and has basically proven itself in practice. However, a correspondingly shaped insulation insulating element is required for each new profile chamber geometry, which leads to corresponding manufacturing and storage costs.

In the fourth method, the foaming of the endless profiles during extrusion, the cooling of the PVC profile is greatly delayed due to the usually exothermic reaction of the foamable insulating material components introduced so that only very low extrusion speeds can be achieved.

The present invention relates to a method according to the third variant, the introduction of a heat-insulating foam into long hollow-chamber profile rods, usually 6 to 7 m in length. It is characteristic here that the ratio of the length of the profiles to the clear width of the hollow chamber into which the foam is introduced is very large, in particular 50: 1 to 250: 1. The following methods are known for this:
The introduction of prefabricated long insulation elements by pushing them in or, for example, according to FIG WO 02/090703 A2 , by sucking into one of the hollow chambers of the hollow chamber profile with negative pressure. In the case of longer profiles, systems of considerable length are required for this. In addition, the production and transport of prefabricated insulation elements of appropriate length, of which different insulation elements are required for each hollow chamber geometry, are complex and expensive.

Attempts have therefore already been made to cut long profiles with a length of 6 to 7 m through one of the open profile ends with z. B. a PU foam, for example by means of a correspondingly long injection lance. However, this process can only be used for hollow chambers with a very large cross-section, and even foaming can hardly be achieved. Finally, handling such a long injection lance is problematic.

From the DE 30 31 229 A1 Another method for foaming longer closed hollow chamber profiles with a polyurethane foam is known, in which the foamable polyurethane mixture is first applied to a profiled material web of z. B. paper is applied and this profiled material web is introduced into the hollow chamber, whereupon the polyurethane material then foams and fills the hollow chamber. However, the entire process is very difficult and difficult to control, and the material web must remain in the profile and interfere with subsequent recycling.

From the DE 35 12 588 A1 It is known to fill hollow chamber profiles with an inorganic foamable mass by pressing in from the end face before processing them into frames.

task

The object of the present invention is therefore to provide an improved method for introducing an insulating foam, in particular a heat insulating foam, into long profile rods of, for. B. 6 to 7 m in length available.

Presentation of the invention

The invention achieves this object by a method according to claim 1, preferably in conjunction with one or more of the features of the subclaims. With the method according to the invention it is possible to fill one or more hollow chambers of a hollow chamber profile with foam, whereby the ratio of the length of the profile to the clear width of the hollow chamber into which the foam is introduced can be very large, in particular 50: 1 to 250: 1 , measured at the widest point of the hollow chamber.

The essence of the invention lies in the fact that the hollow chamber of a long profile piece is not filled with foam from the open sides or - which might also be obvious - exclusively from the center of the profile, but through a plurality of filling openings that are evenly spaced over the length of the hollow chamber profile are distributed. It is essential that at least one, preferably a plurality of ventilation openings are provided between each two filling openings, through which the air displaced by the foaming front can escape. The ventilation openings are preferably approximately in the middle, i. H. between 45 and 55% of the distance, between two filling openings, regardless of whether the foamable mixture is injected into the hollow chamber through the individual filling openings at the same time or successively. It has been found that the end of the foaming front can be adjusted by an appropriate dosage so that it lies fairly exactly in the middle between two filling openings, so that regardless of whether the foamable mixture is through these two adjacent filling openings simultaneously or one behind the other is filled, the two foam fronts always meet approximately in the middle between the two filling openings and so the profile is completely filled in this area with a relatively evenly distributed density of the foam.

The size of the filling openings is primarily related to the size of the injection nozzle used; favorable values are in the range between 5 and 15 mm. The ventilation openings can be made much smaller, for example in the range from 1 to 2.5 mm, with several small ventilation holes next to or behind one another, viewed in the depth direction and / or in the direction of the longitudinal extension of the profile, being particularly advantageous in order to ensure complete ventilation deliver.

The filler openings are closed as soon as possible after the foamable mixture has been injected. According to a first embodiment of the invention, the filling opening is only temporarily closed with a simple plug for this purpose, this stopper being removed again after the foam has cured. In order to achieve an air-tight and diffusion-tight or permeation-tight closure of the foam-filled hollow chamber, a particularly advantageous embodiment of the invention provides for all filling openings and preferably also the ventilation bores to be permanent, e.g. B. with an appropriate stopper to close. The filling openings are advantageously arranged in the profile cross-section in such a way that the filling openings or the plugs closing them are no longer visible in the finished sash or frame. In the case of the window frame, the arrangement is therefore preferably in the wall connection area of the window frame, for the casement frame in the glass rebate area.

The filling openings provided according to the invention are preferably distributed over the length of the profile rod in such a way that they are approximately the same distance from one another of 0.5 to 2.5 m, in particular between 1 and 2 m, the distances preferably greater than 1.5 in the case of large hollow chamber cross-sections m, for very small hollow chamber cross-sections, preferably below 1.5 m. The first and the last of the filling openings are preferably at a distance from the end of the profile rod which corresponds to half the distance between two filling openings.

With a conventional length of the hollow chamber profile of 6.5 m, a number of four filling openings distributed over the length has proven to be particularly suitable, the first filling opening after approx. 81 cm, the second and third after a further 1.62 m, etc. and the last filling opening is placed 81 cm in front of the end. In this case, the ventilation holes are optimally positioned after approx. 0.5 cm, 1.62 m, 3.25 m, etc. and the last ventilation hole again 0.5 cm from the end. The foam front of the respective filling openings accordingly always has to cover a distance of approx. 81 cm to the middle between two filling openings or to the end of the profile.

According to a particularly preferred embodiment of the invention, before or immediately after the metered injection of the foamable mixture closed the ends of the hollow chamber of the hollow chamber profile. This requires that corresponding ventilation openings are provided directly in the end area of the profiles in order to ensure the targeted ventilation of the profile cavities when foaming. The ends of the profiles can, for example, be closed by a closure cap that covers the hollow chamber to be foamed, by a slide or in a similar manner.

According to the invention, the hollow chamber profile becomes approximately horizontal during the expansion and hardening of the foamable mixture - i. H. held at an angle of <5 ° to the horizontal - to ensure an even distribution of the injected foamable mixture on both sides of the injection point.

A mixture containing, on the one hand, a diol and / or polyol and, on the other hand, a di- and / or poly-isocyanate is preferably used as the foamable mixture. The CO ₂ produced by the reaction of water and the di- and / or poly-isocyanate is preferably used as the blowing agent, but other conventional physical blowing agents for polyurethanes, in particular pentane, can also be added. According to an advantageous embodiment of the invention, the density of the preferably used closed-cell polyurethane foam is on average from 30 to 150 kg / m ³ , particularly preferably from 50 to 100 kg / m ³ .

The density distribution is relatively uniform in the method according to the invention, but can fluctuate to a small extent. The density is set e.g. B. according to the prior art by adapting the amount of blowing agent used, in particular the proportion of water in the polyol portion of the mixture. If the distance between two filler openings is selected to be smaller or more filler openings are provided for a given profile length, a lower density can be set for the foam than if the distance between two filler openings is greater, since the flow path to the vent openings is longer the density of the resulting foam increases.

According to a further particularly preferred embodiment of the invention, several hollow chambers of the hollow chamber profile that are adjacent in the depth direction are filled with foam at the same time by drilling the filling openings of two adjacent hollow chambers of the hollow chamber profile so that the wall lying between the two hollow chambers is partially removed in the area of the filling opening and thus when injecting the foamable mixture, part of this mixture is introduced into each of the two hollow chambers.

According to a further particularly preferred embodiment of the invention, an additional profile made of thermoplastic material, particularly preferably made of rigid PVC, is inserted into the hollow chamber to be foamed before the dosed injection of the foamable mixture, the additional profile being fixed in the hollow chamber in particular with the foaming of the hollow chamber. The additional profile can advantageously be made from recycled material and on the one hand improves the flexural rigidity of the overall profile to a not inconsiderable degree, but in particular the pull-out strength of screws that are screwed into the hollow chamber, for example for fastening the locking plates, straps or the like, is improved. For this purpose, the additional profile must have a correspondingly adapted geometry and position within the hollow chamber. According to a particularly preferred embodiment, the position within the hollow chamber is fixed in such a way that at least one outer wall of the additional profile rests against at least one inner wall of the hollow chamber without play. The additional profile can in turn be designed as a hollow chamber profile or made of appropriately shaped compact material. As a result of the embedding in the highly insulating foam, the thermal insulation of the entire system is only insignificantly impaired compared with a completely foamed chamber, and is generally even improved compared with an open chamber.

In order to produce corresponding frames for a window or door from the hollow chamber profiles produced according to the invention, the profiles are mitred in a known manner and welded together in the miter area, the foam filling the hollow chamber, in particular polyurethane, only negligibly influencing the corner strength. If necessary, the foam can be removed to a depth of a few mm in the miter area, but this is usually not necessary.

If a propellant is used for foaming the insulating foam that has a lower thermal conductivity than air, it is advantageous if all filling openings and preferably also all ventilation openings and, if necessary, the profile ends are closed at least largely diffusion-tight or permeation-tight until processing. This prevents the propellant gases contained in the individual cells of the foam - that is to say in particular CO ₂ and / or pentane - from being exchanged for air, which would reduce the thermal insulation. If rigid PVC is used for the hollow chamber profiles used according to the invention, these are sufficiently permeation-tight with the wall thicknesses of 2.5 to 3 mm usually used to ensure a relevant exchange of CO ₂ or pentane for air for a sufficiently long period.

The method according to the invention is preferably used for foaming hollow chamber profiles with a plurality of hollow chambers. In principle, however, profiles with only one chamber, such as. B. glazing beads, etc., are foamed.

Brief description of the drawing

Fig. 1

ein Querschnitt eines Flügelrahmenprofils im Bereich einer der Einfüllöffnungen;

Fig. 2

ein Querschnitt des Flügelrahmenprofils nach Fig. 1 nach dem Ausschäumen der Hohlkammer;

Fig. 3

einen Querschnitt durch ein Blendrahmenprofil im Bereich einer der Einfüllöffnungen;

Fig. 4

einen Querschnitt durch das Blendrahmenprofil gemäß Fig. 3 nach dem Ausschäumen der Hohlkammern;

Fig. 5

eine Aufsicht auf das Flügelrahmenprofil und das Blendrahmenprofil mit angedeuteten Einfüllöffnungen und Entlüftungsbohrungen;

Fig. 6

Detail A gemäß Fig. 5 (Einfüllöffnungen);

Fig. 7

Detail B gemäß Fig. 5 (Entlüftungsbohrungen);

Fig. 8

einen Querschnitt durch ein Blendrahmenprofil ähnlich Fig. 4, jedoch mit Zusatzprofil.

The invention is explained in more detail below using an exemplary embodiment and the drawing. It shows:

Fig. 1

a cross section of a sash profile in the area of one of the filler openings;

Fig. 2

a cross section of the sash profile according to Fig. 1 after foaming the hollow chamber;

Fig. 3

a cross-section through a frame profile in the area of one of the filling openings;

Fig. 4

a cross section through the frame profile according to Fig. 3 after foaming the hollow chambers;

Fig. 5

a plan view of the sash profile and the frame profile with indicated filling openings and ventilation holes;

Fig. 6

Detail A according to Fig. 5 (Filler openings);

Fig. 7

Detail B according to Fig. 5 (Ventilation holes);

Fig. 8

a cross section through a frame profile similar Fig. 4 , but with an additional profile.

Ways of Carrying Out the Invention

That in the Figs. 1 and 2 The sash profile 2 shown in cross section is a commercially available PVC hollow chamber profile with a construction depth of 88 mm and a relatively large hollow chamber 10 which is normally used to accommodate a reinforcement profile. The hollow chamber 10 is delimited by the walls 11, 12, 13 and 14 Fig. 1 one of the filling openings 6 is also shown.

The sash profile 2 is extruded from rigid PVC in a manner known to those skilled in the art, calibrated and cut to length in lengths of 6.5 m. A first filling opening 6 with a diameter of 10 mm is drilled into the wall 11 in these profile bars after 812.5 mm. The wall 11 forms the glass rebate area in the finished window, so that the filling openings 6 are not visible in the finished window.

Further filling openings follow every 1.625 m, so that the last filling opening is again 812.5 mm from the end of the sash profile 2. At the two ends of the sash profile 2, a hole with a diameter of 2 mm is drilled as a ventilation opening 8 at a distance of 5 mm from the end ( Fig. 5 ). In the middle between each two filling openings 6, four bores each with a diameter of 2 mm and with a spacing are arranged one behind the other in the longitudinal direction 30 mm below one another as further ventilation openings 8.

To fill the hollow chamber 10 with foam, the ends of the sash profile 2 are first closed with pneumatically operated slides. Thereafter, a mixture of a commercially available polyol blend with a water content of 3.2% by weight and a di- / poly-isocyanate component is injected in a metered manner through each of the filling openings 6. In the illustrated embodiment, the reactive foamable mixture is injected first through the first filler opening 6 and then successively through the further filler openings 6, after which one of the filler openings 6 closes it with a suitable stopper to prevent the PUR foam from escaping to prevent.

The mixture of the polyol blend and the di- / poly-isocyanate component reacts in a polyaddition reaction to form polyurethane. The water added to the polyol mixture reacts with the isocyanate, splitting off CO ₂ , the CO ₂ serving as a blowing agent.

The sash profile 2 is stored approximately horizontally during the injection, expansion and curing of the foamable mixture, so that after the reactive foamable mixture has been injected, the foam front spreads evenly on both sides of the respective filling openings 6 up to the respective ventilation openings 8, with the between the two Air trapped in foam fronts escapes almost completely from the ventilation openings 8. In the exemplary embodiment shown, a polyurethane insulating foam 4 with an average density of 80 kg / m ^{3 was} formed. After the foamable mixture has reacted completely, a very small amount of the resulting polyurethane insulating foam 4 escapes through the respective ventilation openings 8, so that the complete foaming of the hollow chamber 10 of the sash profile 2 can be controlled accordingly. The cured PUR foam that has leaked out is expediently removed and the ventilation holes 8 z. B. closed diffusion-tight with a small drop of hot melt adhesive.

In the Figures 3 and 4 a commercially available hollow chamber profile extruded from PVC with a construction depth of 88 mm is shown as a frame profile 1. The frame profile 1 has a relatively large hollow chamber 9, which is normally used to hold a reinforcing profile, and two further smaller hollow chambers 7 and 7 'which are to be filled with foam in the following example. The hollow chamber 9 is delimited by the walls 16, 17, 18 and 19, while the wall 20 lies between the hollow chambers 7 and 7 'and the wall 21 lies on the outside of the hollow chamber 7'. The filling openings 5 and 5 ′ can be seen in the wall 18, which forms the wall connection area of the frame profile 1. The filling opening 5 is located centrally between two locking feet of the wall connection area and is used to inject the foamable reactive mixture into the hollow chamber 9, while the filling opening 5 'is so centrally located in the area of the wall 20 that when drilling the filling opening 5' at the same time a part of the Wall 20 is removed and thus both hollow chambers 7, 7 'are open to the same extent.

The placement of the individual filler openings 5, 5 'and the corresponding ventilation bores 22 is carried out analogously to the description for FIGS Figs. 1 and 2 and is in the Fig. 5 in a supervision and in the Figures 6 and 7 as a representation of details A and B according to FIG Fig. 5 shown again in more detail.

In Fig. 5 the sash profile 2 and the frame profile 1 lying next to each other are shown in the view from the injection side, at the end area 23 of the frame profile 1 shown on the left, which is closed when the foamable reaction mixture is injected through the filling openings 5 and 5 'by a slide, not shown, a first ventilation opening 22 is located 5 mm in front of the end of the frame profile 2. Further groups of ventilation openings follow after 1625 mm, 3250 mm, etc. The groups of ventilation openings 22 between each two filling openings 5, 5 'are as in Fig. 7 shown in detail, so arranged that they have an approximately equal distance of 30 mm from one another in the longitudinal direction and together come to lie approximately in the middle between the filling openings. All ventilation openings 22 have a diameter of approximately 2 mm and all filling openings 5, 5 'have a diameter of 10 mm.

In Fig. 8 an expanded embodiment of the invention is shown. Similar to the Figures 3 and 4 a frame profile is foamed as a 6.5 m long profile rod, with the additional profile 25 made of rigid PVC being inserted before the foaming. The additional profile 25 itself again has three hollow chambers which, however, are not foamed in the present example. However, by means of corresponding bores or slots in the walls of the additional profile 25, these could also be foamed.

When the foamable reaction mixture is injected through the filling openings 5, the hardening and foaming reaction of the mixture is triggered, with the polyurethane insulating foam 3 that is formed spreading evenly into the space between the filling openings 5 and the ventilation openings 22 of the frame profile 1 and at the same time the additional profile 25 presses the walls 16 and 17 of the frame profile 1 so that this additional profile 25 rests firmly against the walls 16 and 17.

During the subsequent window production, hardware components with the in Fig. 8 Only symbolically shown screws 26 and 27 attached to the frame profile 1, these screw connections 26 and 27 penetrate both the walls of the frame profile and the corresponding walls of the additional profile 25, so that an extremely high pull-out strength of the screws 26 and 27 is achieved. At the same time, the additional profile 25 serves to mechanically stiffen the frame profile 1, without the thermal insulation being impaired too much, since the insulating foam 3 with its extremely good thermal insulation more than compensates for the thermal conduction of the additional profile 25.

If a propellant is used for foaming the insulating foam 3, 4, which has a lower thermal conductivity than air, it is advantageous if all the filling openings 5, 5 ', 6 and all ventilation openings 8, 22 and, if necessary, the profile ends at least largely until processing be closed diffusion-tight or permeation-tight. This prevents the propellant gases contained in the individual cells of the polyurethane foam - that is to say in particular CO ₂ and / or pentane - from being exchanged for air, which would reduce the thermal insulation. The rigid PVC material of the hollow chamber profiles used according to the invention is sufficiently permeation-tight with the wall thicknesses of 2.5 to 3 mm usually used to ensure a relevant exchange of CO ₂ or pentane for air for a sufficiently long period of time.

Legend

1

Frame profile

2

Sash profile

3

Insulating foam (frame profile)

4th

Insulating foam (sash profile)

5, 5 '

Filling openings (frame profile)

6th

Filling openings (sash profile)

7, 7 '

Hollow chambers (frame profile)

8th

Ventilation holes (sash profile)

9

Hollow chamber (frame profile)

10

Hollow chamber (sash profile)

11

Wall (sash profile)

12

Wall (sash profile)

13

Wall (sash profile)

14th

Wall (sash profile)

15th

not applicable

16

Wall (frame profile)

17th

Wall (frame profile)

18th

Wall (frame profile)

19th

Wall (frame profile)

20th

Wall (frame profile)

21st

Wall (frame profile)

22nd

Ventilation openings (frame profile)

23

End area (frame profile)

24

End area (sash profile)

25th

Additional profile

26th

screw

27

screw

Claims (13)

1. Method for introducing an insulating foam (3, 4) into at least one hollow chamber (7, 7', 9, 10), delimited by walls (11-21), of a profile of frame of a sash, casement or leaf for producing windows and/or doors formed as a hollow chamber profile (1, 2), comprising the following features:

   a) providing a plurality of filling openings (5, 5' 6), distributed over the length of the hollow chamber profile (1, 2), and a respective venting opening (8, 22) between every two filling openings (5, 5', 6) in at least one wall (11, 18) of the at least one hollow chamber (7, 7', 9, 10), the hollow chamber profile (1, 2) having a length of 5.5 to 7 m;

   b) injecting a foamable mixture in a metered manner into the at least one hollow chamber (7, 7', 9, 10) through the plurality of filling openings (5, 5', 6);

   c) closing the filling openings (5, 5', 6);

   d) expanding and curing the foamable mixture while at least largely displacing the gas present in the at least one hollow chamber (7, 7', 9, 10) through the venting openings (8, 22);

   the metered injection of the foamable mixture taking place simultaneously or successively through the respective filling openings (5, 5', 6) and the hollow chamber profile (1, 2) being stored more or less horizontally - i.e. with an angle of < 5° with respect to the horizontal - during the expanding and curing of the foamable mixture.
2. Method according to Claim 1, characterized in that at least three filling openings (5, 5', 6) are provided over the length of the hollow chamber profile (1, 2).
3. Method according to Claim 1 or 2, characterized in that, before or directly after the metered injection of the foamable mixture, the ends of the at least one hollow chamber (7, 7', 9, 10) of the hollow chamber profile (1, 2) are closed and in that in addition at least one venting opening (8, 22) is provided directly in each of the two end regions (23, 24) of the hollow chamber (7, 7', 9, 10) .
4. Method according to one of Claims 1 to 3, characterized in that venting openings (8, 22) are arranged more or less midway, i.e. between 45 and 55% of the distance, between every two filling openings (5, 5', 6).
5. Method according to Claim 4, characterized in that the diameter of the venting openings (8, 22) is less than 50% of the diameter of the filling openings (5, 5', 6).
6. Method according to one of Claims 1 to 5, characterized in that a mixture containing a diol and/or polyol and a diisocyanate and/or polyisocyanate is used as the foamable mixture.
7. Method according to Claim 6, characterized in that the foaming takes place by CO₂ and/or a physical expanding agent, in particular pentane.
8. Method according to Claim 7, characterized in that the foamable mixture is cured to form a closed-cell polyurethane foam of a density of 30 to 150 kg/m³.
9. Method according to one of Claims 1 to 8, characterized in that the filling openings (5') in each case penetrate two adjacent hollow chambers (7, 7') of the hollow chamber profile (1), so that, during the metered injection of the foamable mixture, in each case part of the mixture is introduced into each of the two adjacent hollow chambers (7, 7').
10. Method according to one of Claims 1 to 9, characterized in that, before the metered injection of the foamable mixture, an additional profile (25) of thermoplastic material, in particular of rigid PVC, is pushed into the hollow chamber (9) to be filled with foam and in that this additional profile (25) is fixed in the hollow chamber (9) by the foam filling of the hollow chamber (9).
11. Method according to Claim 10, characterized in that the fixing of the additional profile (25) is performed in such a way that the additional profile (25) lies at least against one of the walls (17) of the hollow chamber (9).
12. Method according to one of Claims 1 to 11, characterized in that the filling openings (5, 5', 6) and possibly the venting openings (8, 22) are permanently closed in a gas-tight manner.
13. Method for producing a frame of sash or casement of a window or a leaf of a door using a hollow chamber profile (1, 2), in which at least one of the hollow chambers (7, 7', 9, 10) was filled with foam by the method according to one of Claims 1 to 12, by cutting to length the hollow chamber profile (1, 2) and welding the cut-to-length profiles in the region of the mitre joint to form the sash, casement or leaf frames.

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